31st Air Defense Division
Identification
Using the supplied coordinates as a disambiguator, this record most likely matches the Sevastopol HQ/command-post compound of Russia’s 31st Air Defense Division, military unit 03121, in the Yukharyna Balka/Fiolent sector. Open sources place the division HQ in Sevastopol and identify v/ch 03121 as the division command point in Yukharyna Balka. ([ru.krymr.com](https://ru.krymr.com/a/zontik-pvo-krym-rossiya-31/32920902.html))
Command Role
CNA lists the 31st Air Defense Division under Russia’s 4th Air and Air Defense Army and assesses its mission as defending Crimea against air and surface-to-surface missile threats from Ukraine and the Black Sea. Russian MoD messaging published by TASS in March 2024 likewise described the formation as repelling air attacks in the Crimea area and protecting troop groupings and infrastructure. ([cna.org](https://www.cna.org/reports/2021/08/Russian-Forces-in-the-Southern-Military-District.pdf))
Force Posture
Open-source reporting indicates the division controls the 12th SAM Regiment in Sevastopol, the 18th regiment in Feodosia, and the 3rd Radio-Technical Regiment in greater Sevastopol. CNA says the 12th regiment covers Crimea’s western and northern approaches, the Feodosia-based regiment covers the eastern approach, and divisional radar support comes from the 3rd Radio-Technical Regiment headquartered west of Belbek. ([ru.krymr.com](https://ru.krymr.com/a/zontik-pvo-krym-rossiya-31/32920902.html))
Site Characteristics
This location is best assessed as a permanent headquarters/command site rather than a transient field position. RFE/Radio Liberty reporting says the current formation was established in 2014 in historic facilities of the earlier Soviet-era air-defense formation; the same reporting notes a chapel opened on the division’s territory in 2017 and a Patriot display area in 2018, consistent with a developed fixed garrison compound. ([ru.krymr.com](https://ru.krymr.com/a/zontik-pvo-krym-rossiya-31/32920902.html))
Operational Relevance
The Sevastopol HQ sits inside the command network CNA describes as covering Crimea’s western and northern approaches, with radar support from the greater Sevastopol area. It has also been publicly associated with a 4 January 2024 strike: Ukraine announced a hit on a Russian command post near Sevastopol, and later open-source reporting tied that claim to the 31st Air Defense Division command point/v/ch 03121 in Yukharyna Balka. BlackSeaNews assessed the underground post as destroyed, but detailed casualty and damage claims remain only partly verified in open sources. ([cna.org](https://www.cna.org/reports/2021/08/Russian-Forces-in-the-Southern-Military-District.pdf))